METALS-London copper prices climb, but stronger dollar drags

SYDNEY, Sept 13 (Reuters) - London copper prices on Wednesday clawed back some of their overnight losses as selling by funds trailed off, while Shanghai contracts for the metal edged lower.

Commodity traders said the emergence of funds offloading copper overnight failed to carry into the Asian day.

Commodity funds had been active on Tuesday cutting positions on bets that prices had peaked, at least in the short term, after LME warehouse stocks climbed by more than 10,000 tonnes.

But London metals remained “overly exposed” to a stronger U.S. dollar, which was enticing holders of other currencies to sell out of positions, said a Perth-based trader. He declined to be identified as he was not authorised to speak with media.

FUNDAMENTALS

* LONDON COPPER: Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange <CMCU3 was up 0.2 percent at $6,680 a tonne a tonne by 0148 GMT, chipping away at a 1.2-percent loss racked up the previous session.

* TIN FIND: China’s Hunan province said on Tuesday it had confirmed the presence of almost 90,000 tonnes of tin ore and over 12.9 million tonnes of fluorite in a region that is part of a prolific mining belt in the south of the country.

* LME ALUMINIUM: Three-month aluminium on the LME was up a touch at $2,140 a tonne, holding on to gains from the previous session. ShFE Aluminium was up 0.75 percent.

* ZINC, NICKEL RISE: ShFE Zinc was steady, while ShFE nickel was up 1.7 percent. Both metals, used in steelmaking, were benefiting from a second straight day of firmer Chinese steel prices.

* NORTH KOREA: U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that U.N. sanctions on North Korea agreed this week were a small step and nothing compared to what would have to happen to deal with the country’s nuclear programme.

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MARKETS NEWS

* The dollar extended its sharp rally against the yen on Wednesday, although it was capped against the euro with a potentially supportive spike in U.S. yields neutralised by a similar move by their German counterparts.